When Urban Meyer gripped the podium within the Rutgers secondary meeting room in the bowels of High Point Solutions Stadium late Saturday, the first words out of his mouth weren't about the unit of his football team that posted 528 yards against a woeful Scarlet Knight defense.
"It all starts with great defense and I really feel like our defense has been getting better all year. We had some plays that hit us the last couple weeks but for the most part you saw this coming. We had a lot of respect for the quarterback, the Rutgers quarterback, I think he’s one of the top efficient passers in the Big Ten and in the country. Third downs, they were leading the conference with 50 percent so I thought our defense played outstanding."
Ohio State kept Rutgers out of the scoring column for 59:47 Saturday, before its backup defense allowed a few big plays and eventual four-yard touchdown pass from Hayden Rettig to Andre Patton.
"These guys work so hard. To get to that point there at the very end, it was kind of like the Wisconsin game at the end of the year last year in the Big Ten Championship," defensive coordinator Luke Fickell said. "Those other guys are in the game, we have high expectations for them and we want to put pressure on them to continue to finish. (The shutout) was one of those things that we were really kind of stressing throughout the game."
Fickell — and Meyer — didn't quite get their wish for a shutout, but Saturday was the most complete game of the season for the team ranked No. 1 in the country throughout its first eight weeks. Rutgers finished with 293 yards, but didn't really have a chance to keep pace with the J.T. Barrett-led Buckeyes, especially when star wide receiver Leonte Carroo checked out of the game for good in the third quarter.
It was Barrett's first start of 2015, and he was more than ready.
"J.T. doesn’t surprise me," Meyer said. "That injury, I didn’t see it in spring, I didn’t see the J.T. Barrett because he was immobile and couldn’t go. Training camp he was getting better and better and better and he’s still only a redshirt sophomore. I think he’s in full swing now, obviously, and that was a progression throughout practice, development and I thought he played great."
The cool, calm and collected Texan and sophomore captain went 14-for-18 passing with 223 yards and three scores while also running the ball 13 times for 101 yards and two touchdowns. Ohio State's offense was clicking like it was when Barrett led it to 11 wins a season ago.
"I thought it was good," Barrett said. "I didn't think I was forcing anything, just let the game come to me. Didn't do anything crazy, didn't have to. Just took what the defense gave me and I think as an offense we played well. We can definitely get better."
"He seemed to execute very well and he makes a lot of plays with his feet. He gives you something there," added offensive coordinator Ed Warinner. "J.T.'s a leader and we put the game plan around what we thought he could do well and what the rest of the team could do well. They executed at a high level today."
As Warinner pored through the stat sheet he had just been given, his eyes glistened when he peeked at his unit's third down efficiency (5-of-10), time of possession (32:40) and zero penalties. Barrett lost a fumble on Ohio State's first drive as he ran left, but outside of that, the offense was about all you could ask for if you're a Buckeye supporter.
"So some things are getting cleaned up. That's three weeks with one turnover and high red zone efficiency," Warinner said.
"We won the field position battle," Meyer said. "The thing you’re not seeing: You’re not seeing the self-destructive stuff. The turnovers, interceptions or penalties. That was a loud environment and to not have any penalties, someone just told me that as I was leaving the locker room, that might be the most impressive thing. That’s how locked in they were."
That all started with Barrett, the fulcrum of the offense in the opening 30 minutes while Rutgers largely kept star running back Ezekiel Elliott bottled up. Elliott ran nine times for 15 yards and a touchdown before the break, but exploded in the second half as Rutgers wore down to finish with 142 yards and two scores on 19 carries. It was the 13th consecutive game Elliott eclipsed the 100-yard mark — which he achieved on a 55-yard jet early in the fourth quarter.
"It was just perfectly blocked; I didn’t have to do anything special but run fast. Coach Meyer really didn’t want to put me in on that last series, he was ready to bench me. I think I was like 13 yards away from 100 yards and he just wanted to get that streak. He was like, ‘You better get it early, I’m only going to give you a couple plays.’ It just happened to open crazy."
Elliott's now gone for more than 1,000 yards in back-to-back seasons at Ohio State, the third consecutive year a Buckeye running back's done that. Before he came home to Columbus, Meyer never had a 1,000-yard back in his head coaching career.
Lest we forget about the guy with a pair of Silver Footballs in his trophy case, redshirt senior Braxton Miller. The quarterback turned H-back touched the ball just three times, but snagged a 45-yarder from Barrett on his back even though, admittedly, he never saw it until it hit his stomach.
"At first I lost it in the air because I had to slow down. He put his arms up and I lost it completely. But I was in a good position and used my senses to catch the ball."
Cardale Jones got his chance to play in the fourth quarter with the game well in hand, completing all three of his passes for 24 yards and remaining engaged, just like his head coach wanted.
"Cardale comes in and goes 3-for-3, his mentality was good, he’s working," Meyer said. "He’s a rookie, too. These guys are not the established three-, four-year starters. One is a sophomore and one is 10-0 as a starter. I just want to see those guys continue to get better and better and better and they are. It might not maybe be at the speed with the noise out there, but they’re still young quarterbacks and it’s very important for Cardale to continue to grow and obviously J.T., he gets better every time he goes out and practices."
Both quarterbacks lean on the talent around them as they progress forward, but this night was about Barrett and the offense taking a leap forward against one of the worst defenses in the Big Ten to notch Ohio State its eighth win of the season.
The Buckeyes were supposed to be dominant. They were, and it was with Barrett leading the charge.
"I think he’s a unique guy that was voted captain by our guys as a sophomore," Meyer said. "I haven’t done the research yet, but I don’t think that’s ever happened at Ohio State. That tells you the respect he had and obviously when you’re taking the first snap, he says things to the team right before we go out and he’s really good."
"I felt great out there with J.T. back there," said Michael Thomas, who had 103 yards receiving and a 50-yard catch a run for a touchdown. "I feel like he ran the offense great, did a tremendous job and I feel like we're going to build off that. Going into this bye week, take a deep breath and come out swinging."
Minnesota visits Ohio Stadium Nov. 7, four days after the inaugural College Football Playoff rankings are released to the world.
Meyer said Wednesday he isn't sure if his team is Playoff-worthy right now, but what he does see is a team improving as Halloween approaches.
Saturday with Barrett toting the rock, the Buckeyes looked the part.
"I think we’ve improved every week; I think we’re playing at a very high level right now. All that matters is next week — tomorrow they’re off completely, Monday they just get some treatment and Tuesday we go again. There’s a good mindset in there. We’ve gotta continue to get better; we know what’s coming down the pipe here with some really tough games coming up. Some teams get better, some don’t, we’re getting better right now."
